40 photos of vintage vending machines that you didn't even know about

In this collection of photos you will see the oldest and most unusual vending machines in the world. Modern vending machines have gone far ahead, but it's always interesting to see where it all started!

These vintage pictures prove that the passion for automated shopping is not new.

The earliest known mention of a vending machine is in the work of Heron of Alexandria, an engineer and mathematician from first-century Roman Egypt. The machine designed by him accepted the coin, and then gave out holy water. When the coin hit the receiver, it fell onto a pallet attached to the lever. The lever opened a valve through which a little water flowed out. The pallet continued to tilt under the weight of the coin until it fell off it, after which the counterweight lifted the lever and closed the valve.

Coin-operated vending machines for issuing tobacco were used as early as 1615 in the taverns of England. The machines were portable and were made of brass.

English bookseller Richard Carlisle invented a newspaper vending machine for distributing banned works in 1822. Simon Denham received British Patent No. 706 for his stamp vending machine in 1867, the first fully automatic vending machine.

The first modern coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England, in the early 1880s and were intended for the sale of postcards. The machine was invented by Percival Everitt in 1883 and soon became widely used at train stations and post offices, distributing envelopes, postcards and paper for notes.

In 1887, Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company was founded in England - as the first company engaged mainly in the installation and maintenance of vending machines.

In 1893, Stollwerck, a German chocolate manufacturer, was selling its chocolate through a network of 15,000 vending machines. The company founded separate companies for the production of vending machines for the sale of not only chocolate, but also cigarettes, matches, chewing gum and soap.

The first vending machine in the United States was built in 1888 by Thomas Adams Gum Company to sell chewing gum on New York train platforms.

The idea of adding games to these machines as an additional incentive to purchase originated in 1897 when the Pulver Manufacturing Company added small figures that would move whenever someone buys chewing gum in their machines. This idea gave rise to an entirely new type of mechanical devices known as "trade stimulators".

Book-o-mat, a book vending machine

Pie vending machine

Vending machine for lit cigarettes for a penny

Perfume dispenser with coin receiver

Vending machine for buying air insurance

Vending machine for music records

The whole supermarket is like vending machines with different departments

Bait vending machine for fishermen

Vending machines for carbonated water with syrup, Moscow

Reader's Digest Magazine vending Machine

Automatic pantyhose vending machine, France

Vending machine for light bulbs

Sandwich vending machine. The 1940s

A vending machine at a Macy's store where men's shorts were sold for just 97 cents

Vending machine for hot lunches in Zandvoort in the Netherlands

Milk vending machine in London

Coal vending machine, London

A fruit vending machine on the London Underground. The 1920s

A woman buys fruit from a vending machine at Paddington Station in London. The 1920s

An advanced vending machine for carbonated drinks from the Maiwarm company from Chicago. Did not require a siphon

Vending machine in the cafeteria called Automat, 1940s

Coffee vending machine, 1947

A device for selling sandwiches. It was first shown at an exhibition in Chicago. The 1950s

Multifunctional vending machine for selling soft drinks (Coca Cola, orange juice) and hot soup

Office vending machine selling Campbell soup. The 1950s

Vending machine for the sale of postage stamps

A woman buys a pair of nylon stockings from a vending machine

Ice cream vending machine, 1952

A large selection: sandwiches, hot soup or hot chocolate, coffee, soft drinks, fresh milk and chilled fruits. onethousandninehundredfiftynine

People buy fresh eggs at local farms from vending machines. 1960s

Buying fresh eggs at the vending machine

A woman uses the UK's first potato vending machine. Chelsea, 1962

A woman in Berlin, Germany, buys a watch from a vending machine. The 1960s

Whiskey vending machine

Beer vending machine, 1960s

Vending machine for basic necessities, 1960s

Vending machine for hot drinks with the ability to use a bank card, 1960s